El Paso fire, police pension exec quits

The El Paso Firemen and Policemen's Pension Fund executive director Robert Stanton abruptly resigned on Wednesday after facing scrutiny for overspending and mismanagement.

Stanton's resignation comes during a time that the fund is facing a $270 million shortfall after receiving a $210 million bailout from the city four years ago and newly hired policemen and firefighters surrendered $186 million in benefits. The fund had requested $4 million annually from the city to deal with the deficit, and it asked firefighters and policemen to increase their contributions by $3 million annually.

The pension fund, despite being 79 percent funded, is also planning to buy a Downtown building for about $650,000.

Pension fund board chairman Lt. Tyler Grossman of the El Paso Police Department said Stanton's resignation was not a surprise and had nothing to do with mismanagement. Stanton had talked about retiring recently, and the decision was speeded up because of unwarranted criticism, Grossman said.

Stanton, 58, is expected to stay as executive director until his replacement is found. The fund pays Stanton $145,000 a year and additional 10 percent of his annual salary -- $14,500 -- goes to his retirement.

"I think the personal attacks from the city had sped this process up," Grossman said. "We still support him. We wanted him to stay."

Stanton did not return phone calls. The resignation took place during a meeting of the fund's board.

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"I was surprised," said Carmen Arrieta-Candelaria, the city's chief financial officer who also sits on the pension fund board. "I think the timing of his resignation with things going on with the city comes not at the best time."

City Rep. Cortney Niland had questioned Stanton's management of the fund during a recent City Council meeting.

"How do you get $400 million to save your fund, and four years later we find ourselves in the same situation?" Niland said after a council meeting last month. "It doesn't make sense to me. Where is the money going? Why are expenses higher? The fund says it's spending more money than it's taking in. To me, that's bad management or mismanagement."

City Manager Joyce Wilson also expressed concerns about the fund. In an interview last month with the El Paso Times, she questioned how the pension is already back in a shortfall.

Wilson, with council direction, has ordered an audit of the pension fund.

"They say it's bad stock markets or poor return on investments that got them here," Wilson said. "Quite frankly, I'm not so sure. We need to review everything and find out what the problem is."

The El Paso Times has requested documents about Stanton's travel and other expenses.

Stanton worked in Manchester. N.H., as the executive director for the city pension fund. He retired in 1999.

Stanton settled a civil suit with his former employee that accused him of paying himself $40,000 to $50,000 in overtime, sick leave and vacation pay. Stanton agreed to pay $30,000 but admitted no wrongdoing. He was later indicted in a criminal case for similar accusations, but the charge was dropped without explanation.

The El Paso pension board knew about the legal issues when it hired him in 2001.